rejnel

Heidi Gardner can be very funny, but I'm way over her two go-to characters--Angel and now Allison Janney. Boxer movies aren't enough of a cultural presence to need to go there so frequently, and it's basically a one-joke character. (Granted, funny to bring Matt Damon into it, but now it's time to retire it.) And the Allison Janney impression is generic and pointless. If it had come up once as a throwaway in an awards sketch or something, fine, but they have been making way too much of it. Give that time to Melissa and her array of terrific impressions. Speaking of which, Aidy's Hannah Gadsby was uncanny!

You can like or not like the new Greg, but I think critiques that he's too theatre-y are silly. Santino Fontana is primarily a stage actor! Or at least, he was before CEG. The best performers on the show all come from theatre backgrounds, actually. Silly to use that as a criticism. Personally, I was hard to win over because I'm a big SF fan, but I thought the Rebecca/Greg song was charming. It got me ready to believe in their history. Obviously, were the original actor available, all that history would have been there immediately, but I feel like this will sort of work.

The roofie joke was about catching Santa (or Bigfoot). In that same song, did anyone catch the lyric right after "the only other option is a coup?" Cause it sounded like "Stray Africa," and I don't think that's right.

I was in Ruby's corner, but I'm OK with the result. Mainly, I just really want them to avoid ugly finale show-stoppers. I feel like this is the second season finale where the baking was a lot less appealing than an average episode (don't remember which other finale I'm thinking of, but I do remember it happening before). To me, these final show-stoppers looked like the funny messes on that "Nailed It!" site. I'd be good with them doing wedding cakes every time or something like that. If they want to keep a slight element of surprise and freshness, they can change the theme of the wedding every season. A couple other big finale-worthy projects would be a picnic (which they did once) or a shop window (which they did for patisserie this season). They could rotate a few big ideas like that, or like I said, even just stick with one, like wedding cakes. For my money, Ruby and Antony are both so charismatic and watchable, they should have their own show. Loved seeing the follow-ups. And I had to rewind to confirm that Rahul was actually relaxed and laughing at the dinner table with some other contestants!

I swear it gets easier. By your second or third roll-up cake, it's way less tricky. Some of that has to do with confidence, I think. I've made a lot of rolls and buche de noels over the years, and as long as I charge ahead and don't look scared, all goes well! The GBBO culture makes me happy. "Terry is not here this weekend because he's poorly." Realistically, Terry's probably sick as a dog if he's missing a weekend of bakes, but it's so much nicer to say he's "poorly." I could convince myself to try that! Even a bunch of them for a bunch of people. But I'd find the one big sphere intimidating! A little crack and you're sunk! That's what I'm thinking too. If John or Dan falls out, there are several at the next tier right now, but nobody I'd want to bet on. If Rahul gets eliminated before the finals, I will be very sad. I was and remain obsessed with it.

Aw. Antony had just become my favorite. Handsome, smart, and nice. And so cute with his partner in the little clip last week. I like everybody who's left, and adore several of them. Baking quality seems super high so far--am I imagining that?

Favorite dialogue ever: Gary: Oh, my! Look at those curtains. Where can I get those? Nyaring: I made them from my husband's death shroud. Selina: What a touching tribute, Nyaring. Nyaring: No, it was a purposeful desecration of the man who beat and raped me. Selina: Well, they go with everything.

re Booty Kings: It was just 3 minutes of SNL objectifying women, as far as I'm concerned.

When she was interviewed on Inside the Actors Studio, she mocked the soaps and said all she did there was observe everything NOT to do. In contrast, Julianne Moore always says things like "it was a job, a good job, a great way to work on my craft, and why wouldn't I be grateful?" And of course she walked that talk by going back and filming a few scenes as Frannie for the final week of the show.

They handled this beautifully, in my opinion. If you'd described the episode to me, I would have envisioned something much clunkier and/or over the top. But I felt they hit all the right notes, and both Messing and the wonderful Robert Klein nailed those scenes. As for why Grace blames her dad, she did say she kept telling him Harry was creepy. This is exactly what I'd expect from a 15-year-old girl who is uneasy around an older man (and something I experienced a number of times myself); the adults in the situation should listen and not turn a blind eye. The kid is not in a position to know where things will lead or how real the threat is. I thought it all tracked and paid off beautifully. And cheers to the funny actress who played Patty the waitress, and everybody in the Will/Karen/Jack story as well. Post-show interview with the writers: https://variety.com/2018/tv/features/will-and-grace-me-too-episode-graces-secret-interview-1203016897/

I don't like 90% of the stand-up comedy I've seen, but I find this show gripping. Just a couple episodes into Season 2, and so far so good. (Melissa Leo's big "I'm sorry" aria felt like too much for me, but generally I love her as Goldie.) ETA: almost at the end of the season. I really, really wish Nick had killed his uncle and gotten away with it. I guess it would have screwed him up even more, but man that uncle deserved the worst.

"Craqueline Steven, get on board!" made me giggle really hard.

I was just listening to an episode of the podcast Hidden Brain about "Bullshit Jobs." An anthropologist has written a whole book about jobs, mostly mid-level office jobs, that entail little to no responsibility. Jobs that could be eliminated without anybody really noticing. Even before the podcast sampled the Office theme song and a few choice Michael Scott moments, my mind of course jumped to the show. Two questions: who were the most useless employees at the Scranton branch, and whose jobs were most mysterious?

Miscellaneous end-of-season thoughts: I hope critics or the show itself take up its notions of biology and motherhood at some point. Surely not ALL handmaids want to keep their rapists' babies? And the way those Marthas risked their lives to get a mother-child team out of the country, it all seemed rooted in a sense that the biological relationship is sacred. Otherwise, why not just smuggle the baby out to safety rather than dragging an adult woman dressed in red and white through the dark countryside (how many times did I yell "taking off your damn white hat?") I suppose, yes, baby calmer in arms of its breastfeeding mama, but there's something offensive to me about how the show (not Gilead, obviously) assumes the biological relationship is everything. I like that Eden proved a catalyst for a lot of action, just not in ways we all expected. And although steeped in the Gilead crazy, at bottom she was just a teenager with romantic fantasies about love and family. Of course the first person who was nice to her would turn her head in a big way. (Glad that Isaac at least didn't betray her.) (And surprising to realize how young HE was, too, when you finally got a good look at him in the light of day.) I hate her father about as much as I hated anyone on this show! Loved the Martha underground railroad--just beautiful to see. Do you think something specific triggered them to do it for June at this specific time, or was it just opportunistic with the fire (if the fire was indeed just luck, which I don't believe is the case)? Certainly, very lucky for Holly that the escape happened right after Serena's eyes were opened one more time and in a big way. Please give me lots more of Colonel Lawrence next season. He's a loose cannon, which is just what this show needs! While I'm wishing: big Rita backstory, please. Do we even know what she used to do? And we must have Aunt Lydia for as long as the show runs. GREAT character, thanks to both the writing and Ann Dowd's brilliance. Not to mention that we must see Lydia's backstory. I think the story would be better served from here on out with minimal Fred Waterford. Well drawn and well performed to this point, but I'd like to see the show move out of his little kingdom. He can come back and be vindictive now and then, but I don't think we need to see a lot more of him. Speaking of Fred, some of the creepiest moments for me were when he beamed at June and expected to be thanked (or blown) for his swagger and/or generosity. The trips through Jezebel's, and then the "I'll arrange it so you can stay, we can try for a boy, wouldn't that be fun?" moment. Besides being inherently creepy, they took me right back to actual moments when I was dating. There are many, many guys who trade in that kind of "look what I can do for you! don't you admire me?" currency. Count me in with everyone who hates June's final decision in the season finale. So many good arguments already stated above for why it makes no human or narrative sense for June to stay. And frankly, I'd love the writers to make a big leap and have to tell whole different kind of stories next year. I think they've done a great job mixing it up within the small world we've been able to see, but now they've kind of promised more of the same. Shocked how much I like Alexis Bledel in this show! Other MVPs: Yvonne Strahovski, of course; Max Minghella; Samira Wiley.

I find the season pretty engaging overall, but this episode didn't move things forward much. I'm fascinated by Mrs. [Putnam?]--the woman who has Janine's baby. Every glimpse of her suggests she's got a lot going on. So curious to see where that goes. It may just be that she's resentful of her cheating husband and she's not happy caring for an infant, but I feel like there's more to it.

I smell malarkey re Palak, Christian, and the egg-less meatballs. We clearly saw Palak open a container of eggs. I noticed because it was a bizarre way to store eggs--they were in a tall, skinny, clear plastic container like the ones you use to take soup home from a Thai restaurant. I remember thinking no one would ever store eggs like that. But she was definitely opening it and getting eggs out, and then a few minutes later, he's freaking out because he doesn't see any cracked eggshells at their station. Or I guess I WOULD smell malarkey, but I have no idea what all this adds up to. It's just weird!

I like several of the people mentioned above, especially Alex. But here's my proposal: two judges we really like (Alex and Anne, maybe?) plus a different judge each week who's a Food Network fan. They wouldn't get to decide who's booted, but they'd get to weigh in on both the food and the personality/presentation of the contestants in each round. Have a different person each week so they don't come in with a favorite (assuming all is shot before the series drops). It might really alleviate the sense that there's a pre-ordained winner!

Ditto to all these questions! I thought I knew the taxonomy before this episode!

The scene in the lecture hall was mesmerizing, yes. But once you've been tipped to the guilty party and think it through, Tim's plan is about as airtight as a spaghetti strainer. Still enjoyed the acting. Jamie Ray Newman was a terrific noir dame, and the guy who played Landry was really good at threading the needle. James Jordan also great. At least once per episode it crosses my mind that the actors on this show, whether regulars, recurring, or just random dorm residents with 4 lines, must really appreciate not having to dumb themselves down for the writing. Virtually everyone gets to be a little smart or complex or both. It's refreshing.

That blog piece is terrific! Really well done. BIG plot hole in the coach story? The guy who was filming him (assistant coach) knows it was a suicide, as will the coach's wife if Josh tells her, making them both accomplices to insurance fraud. And Josh can only safely come back to town and escape charges if he comes clean with the DVD, which means he then exposes his family's having benefited from the fraud. For that matter, Keith and Veronica are both accomplices as well. This is not a happy ending!

It wasn't a sorority sweatshirt. They pulled some sleight of hand and switched it for a shirt that said "MEAT IS MURDER."

I'm on my way through a first viewing of the series. I found the resolution of the serial rape mystery fairly satisfying. And once Veronica was left in Moe's room and saw the photo, it accelerated so strongly that I was left to put a few pieces together for myself (or with the help of the thread above), specifically about the prison experiment. I like that; usually I feel over-explained-to. But hey, is this a fairly huge plot hole? If the evidence that originally cleared Mercer was simply that he was on air during two of the rapes, why didn't he or his lawyer bring that up? It wouldn't take Veronica's sleuthing to bring that to light. Right? Overall, I've noticed little things in the writing are not as sharp as in Seasons 1 and 2, but still enjoying the show!

I'm watching the series for the first time, just finished Season 2. These two seasons have been AMAZING. Couple of things that seemed a big prescient from the show's 2005-06 time: big story about a coach raping young boys. Not that Sandusky was the first by any means, but it surprised me a bit. And I yelled and cheered when Veronica said she was taking pepper spray to NY in case they ran into "that Trump character." HA!

I'm in Oregon, too, so can't answer your question. But AAAARRRRGGGG!!!! For my money, it needed to be an hour-long episode, anyway, and then with that weird cut, I felt very cheated!

Great episode! I loved the Maddie flashbacks, including the glimpses of Ben and Sally together and happy. The two pairs in the trunks of cars provided for some fun scenes, and weirdly I actually believe Jules and Poppy as siblings. Ezra's got reason to be OUT FOR BLOOD next time he sees Maddie, since her con led pretty directly to the death of his father. Which I didn't see coming. Show is still surprising me more often than not. Edited to add: there was some teenage Maddie stuff in the first season, too. Maddie having sex with her friend's cousin or something? But they didn't use a different actress for those scenes, did they? I was a little surprised that they went with another actress for the flashbacks this time.